CT scans of crania of two Museum specimens available in the dataset: left, a bonobo (Pan paniscus), and right, eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei)Museum scientists led a multi-institution effort to make more than 6,000 3D scans of non-human primate skeletons collected over the last decade available for research.
The dataset, now available on the National Science Foundation-funded repository MorphoSource, includes scans of nearly 400 individual specimens ranging from great apes (orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees) to Eurasian and South American monkeys. This virtual collection provides a valuable resource to scientists in the fields of biology, biological anthropology, evolutionary science, and conservation. Details about the digital collection were published recently in the journal Scientific Data.
“Until now, access to selected 3D scans has been limited to on-demand requests from students and other researchers, for whom many collections remain hard to access,” said Sergio Almécija, the leader of this effort and a senior research scientist in the Museum’s Division of Anthropology. “This digital collection drastically changes that.”
The physical specimens that were digitized as part of this effort are housed in collections at the Museum, Stony Brook University in New York, the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Royal Museum for Central Africa (Belgium).
Recently, large-scale phenotypic studies—those based on physical characteristics like skeletal structure—have demonstrated how these datasets can be applied to understanding evolutionary processes. Such work has been possible thanks to developments in 3D digitization over the last two decades, including faster, more accurate, and more affordable scanning technology.
“Researchers used to visit collections carrying only calipers, but many now do so with portable structured-light scanners,” Almécija said.
The study’s researchers confirmed that despite the diverse digitizing devices used to produce scans across institutions—ranging from micro-CT scanners to an assortment of handheld surface scanners—the final 3D models can be combined and compared across the dataset.
In addition to fueling future primate phenomics studies and providing a roadmap for other data digitization projects, scientists and research staff who oversee collections are excited about the impact this effort will have more broadly.
“One of our concerns for the primate collection, which is very heavily used, has always been wear and tear of the specimens,” said study co-author Nancy Simmons, curator and chair of the Museum’s Mammalogy Department. “We’ve seen different sets of researchers measuring and scanning the same items again and again. Being able to share these 3D scans with researchers around the world is huge and reduces possible damage to the collection items.”
In addition, study co-author Ashley Hammond, curator and chair of the Museum’s Division of Anthropology underscored that the new digital repository will greatly expand access.
“This publicly available collection of scans will help empower researchers who may not have the financial resources to visit museum collections, most critically students and researchers in countries where the primate specimens originated,” said Hammond.